Why Learning to Code is Crucial in the Age of AI and No-Code Tools

“AI will not replace humans but a human with AI skills will replace 5 other humans”

The emergence of no-code and generative AI tools like ChatGPT has threatened the very existence of several industries and, perhaps inevitably, the role of humans in technical roles such as coding has come under scrutiny.

As a result, questions have been raised over the need for technical skill sets, and this filters down to education in schools. While it was seen as a clear advantage to have solid coding knowledge in technical (and some non-technical) roles, could AI now negate the need for this to be taught in school? At JetLearn, we strongly believe that computational thinking and coding remain essential skills in the world of technology. In fact, learning to code is perhaps more important now than ever before.

Learning to code is like learning a language and, just as we have a multitude of translation tools (such as Google Translate) available, it does not mean that learning a language is no longer important. Knowing a language allows you to communicate effectively and understand the nuances of a culture. Similarly, knowing how to code allows you to communicate effectively with technology and understand the nuances of how software is built. AI-driven and no-code tools can greatly expedite this process, but there is still a huge requirement for humans to drive this process. We are still training the AI - perhaps a relief to hear - rather than the AI training us.

The rise of huge salaried “prompt engineer” roles is a testament to this - value is now being placed on those individuals that can converse in both a code and no-code language, and these tools still require the mastery of mankind to learn and evolve. AI can’t yet prompt itself; I can prompt ChatGPT to provide me with statistics -  such as 91% of hiring managers consider coding skills to be important when hiring for technical roles, or that coding jobs are growing 50% faster than the overall job market - but there is still a need for human input. As this sentence and these statistics demonstrate; despite the rise of no-code tools, coding skills are still in high demand and will continue to be in the future.

As McKinsey & Company termed it, we have now created a completely new industry of “citizen developers” - individuals who, while not deeply technical, have a good understanding of business contexts and can leverage that knowledge to integrate technology and scale quickly. However, even citizen developers require a basic understanding of coding to be successful. They must understand how to integrate these tools into existing systems, manipulate data inputs, and analyze output. This should mean that demand for coding skills continues to grow, as does its importance in the school curriculum.

It is also important to highlight that no-code tools have their limitations, and their outputs are modeled on predetermined inputs, such as templates and modules, which can limit creativity and innovation. While they can be used to create simple applications or websites, they are unsuitable for building complex systems or solving unique problems. In contrast, coding allows developers to create customized solutions tailored to specific needs. With coding, developers have complete control over the development process and can experiment with new ideas and concepts.

AI isn’t coming for our jobs, it’s here already. The fact that it can be leveraged by those who recognize its potential demonstrates that it is not a threat, and the same can be said for no-code tools. Instead, there needs to be a determined effort to introduce more students to computer science and the tool sets now available to them to work in the jobs of tomorrow.

Some of the most prominent leaders in technology are proponents of this; a few years ago we saw the collective power of Bezos, Cook, Gates, and Zuckerberg et al. who have teamed up with Code.org, the nonprofit tech education organization, to push for more K-12 students to be taught these very skills. It is an exciting time to be in coding, to leverage AI and no-code, and I believe that the future of coding is still in our hands, and of the workforce of tomorrow.